Sun Smith-Foret is a professional studio artist, teacher, and independent curator. She completed an MFA in printmaking at Washington University under Peter Marcus, where she also studied art history, art, and architecture as an undergraduate. Since then, her artistic practice has encompassed textile construction, quilts, sculpture, knotted and woven functional objects, and drawing and painting.
Rooted in ancient cultural practices, rituals and imagery, as well as in mathematics and science, Sun Smith Forêt’s most recent sculptural works reference vessels, nests, boats and celestial bodies. Smith-Forêt embeds these knotted objects with the knowledge of spiritual thought from a range of cultures, including Native American spiritual practices, African cosmology, Viking funerary rituals, Buddhist thought and aspects of Christianity, all with which she connects on a deeply personal level.
The artist is a student of world religions and art practices, weaving these ideas and aesthetics both literally and spiritually into her new works. As a student of art history and art processes, Sun's work includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and textiles. All works are layered with both personal and collective meaning including her public art project, Riverwork.
— An excerpt from the essay “Sun Smith Foret: New Work in Amuletic Sculpture,” 2019, by Olivia Lahs-Gonzales.